Government Collects Record Taxes, Still Has $225 Billion Defect

posted by Bill Galluccio -

Jan 12, 2018

The federal government set a new record during the first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year, which runs from October through December. During that time CNS News reports that the government collected over $390 billion in income taxes, and had revenues of almost $770 billion.

But, despite the record amount of money collected by the IRS, the government still managed to run a deficit. In the same four months, the government spent just under $1 trillion, forcing the government to borrow an extra $225 billion to cover expenses.

CNS broke down all the taxes paid to reach the $770 billion collected in four months.

The $769,512,000,000 in total tax revenues collected in the first quarter of this year included not only the record $390,847,000,000 in individual income taxes, but also $62,052,000,000 in corporate income taxes; $259,165,000,000 in Social Security and other payroll taxes; $19,458,000,000 in excise taxes; $5,258,000,000 in estate and gift taxes; $9,446,000,000 in customs duties; and $23,588,000,000 in miscellaneous government receipts.

While the amount of income tax collected was a record, overall the government did not set a record for total taxes collected. That record was set in first quarter of 2016, when the government took in just under $800 billion in taxes.

The record haul for the government comes after President Trump signed a tax relief bill in December that is expected to give close to 90% of Americans a tax cut. The tax plan also slashes the corporate tax rate, so the government will likely see a decrease in tax revenue throughout the rest of the fiscal year.